Following the release of the long awaited, live action The Little Mermaid starring the stunning Halle Bailey as Ariel, the world has once again become enchanted by the elusive creatures that inhabit worlds far out of our reach. The seas have inspired many stories but none have stuck so much as the myth of the mermaid. Folklore from so many different countries has variations of these creatures and this can only make you think, is there some truth to the legends? Here, I explore many different stories of mermaids told by people from all over the world...
Europe: The Little Mermaid
“She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart.”
~ Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid
Despite the fantastical take Walt Disney has on the tale, the original story written by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1800s is much darker. In this version, Marina, a 15 year-old mermaid, is not originally motivated by her love for a prince. Instead, she learns that human souls, unlike mermaid's, are eternal and after their bodies die, rise up to the starry heavens to live on. She wants this for herself and in order to acquire it, Marina must have a human fall deeply in love with her. As she explores the world above, she finds a human prince whom she saves from a violent storm that wrecks his ship. Watching him from afar, she begins to fall deeply in love with him. In order to be with him, she makes a deal with an evil witch, who offers to give her a pair of legs. But this comes at a much more violent price than simply losing her voice. In this version, her tongue is cut out and with every step she takes, she must suffer searing pain. This doesn't deter her; her love for the prince and wish to be immortal too tempting to turn away from. Marina meets the prince, who takes her under his wing as a friend and confidant. But tragically, he ends up falling in love with another woman, whom he believes saved his life when he was washed ashore after the shipwreck. Marina is distraught, heartbroken at the knowledge that she has lost both her prince and her life. The night before the prince is due to be married, the evil witch tells her that she can live if she kills the prince and covers her feet with his blood. Marina takes a knife into the sleeping prince's room, preparing herself to do the only thing that will spare her life. But her sleeping prince looks so radiant and peaceful, that she can't bear to go through with it. Dropping the knife, she throws herself into the ocean, where she transforms into sea foam, expecting to die. However as a reward for sparing her prince's life, fate transforms her soul into a daughter of the air, who may earn an immortal soul through her good deeds, such as bringing fresh breezes to the lands of the south. The sweet, little mermaid smiles down at her prince, and plants a gentle kiss on his bride's forehead, then rises up past their ship and into the clouds to continue her quest for immortality.
Africa: Yemaya, Goddess of the Ocean
Yemaya Assessu, Assessu yemaya
Yemanja is the Gush of the Spring.
The Gush of the Spring is Yemanja.
Yemaya olodo, Olodo yemaya
The Mother of the Children of Fishes is the Owner of Rivers.
The Owner of Rivers is the Mother of the Children of Fishes.
~ A Prayer to the Goddess Yemaya
The story of the Goddess Yemaya is told in many African religions. Her full name is Yey Omo Eja which means "mother whose children are the fish". In the Yoruda religion, she is the ruler of the Ogun River, the most important waterway in Nigeria. Much like the Little Mermaid's, Yemaya's story is a tragic one. Yemaya had a son who, as a teenager, became rebellious and in protest against his father, attacked his mother and raped her. He tried to do this a second time, causing Yemaya to flee to a nearby mountain, cursing her son in hurt and betrayal until he died. Yemaya, distraught, decided to end her own life, by throwing herself from the top of the mountain that she'd escaped to. As she died, she gave birth to 14 powerful children. Her waters broke and washed across the earth, causing the great flood which formed the seven seas. From her bones, the first humans were formed. Because of this story, Yemaya has become the mother of all life. Reflecting her motherly nature, Yemaya embodies the top part of the sea, a source of nourishment for the creatures that reside here. When African people were forcefully brought to the Americas during the slave trade, Yemaya followed her people, watching over and protecting them. In order to gain Yemaya's affection and protection, people send her gifts of flowers, jewellery and perfume. Yemaya gifted seashells to humans. If you've ever lifted a seashell to your ear and heard the ocean, you have also heard Yemaya's gentle voice, as her energy flows through these. It is said that the ocean is representative of Yemaya's cradle, rocking sea life gently as the tides ebb and flow.
The Caribbean: Lasirèn
“The mermaid, the whale,
My hat falls into the sea.
I caress the mermaid,
My hat falls into the sea.
I lie down with the mermaid,
My hat falls into the sea.”
~ Haitian Vodou chant
Lasirén is related to Yemaya as she also followed her African people across the ocean to the Caribbean islands during the transatlantic slave trade. She is worshipped in the Vodou culture of Haiti and New Orleans. She is consort to the Lord of the Water, Agwé, and is Queen of the Choir, having the most beautiful voice in the entire ocean. If you see her, it is said that you will soon receive a profound insight into your life, one that might just change you forever. Lasirén brings good luck to all, especially sailors, and for this reason, people display her image in homes and ships. She resides at the frontier of the mystical and ordinary, of the ocean and land. The comb in her hand is symbolic of the portal between the conscious and unconscious realms, encouraging humans to look within themselves and each other. She has been known to take humans (usually women) and bring them to her home underwater, filled with trinkets and treasures from shipwrecks. And although some drown, others return with new powers of healing and clairvoyance.
But she can also harm. If those who are meant to worship her fail to do so, or those who owe her do not pay their debt, she can harness her beauty to lure them to a watery grave. She has also been known to take babies from their mothers and raise them underwater. Lasirén has two sisters, Danto and Freda, and the three of them each represent one aspect of femininity. Danto represents motherhood, Freda represents love and sexuality, whilst Lasirén represents the spiritual and mystical side of femininity.
North America: Menana of the Waterfall
Menana lived among the stars, then in water, and finally on land as half fish, half human - only to become fully human when a man could love her.
~ Indigenous North American legend, from the Ottawa tribe
As a young human girl, Menana was curious and longed to venture amongst the starry heavens above. The Great Spirit granted Menana her wish. After a while, however, Menana became tired and lonely and wished once more to return to earth. The Great Spirit, once again permitted her to do so, but in a form that was not fully human, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. She was taken under the care of the Spirits of the Flood and could only return to her original form when she earned the true love of another human being.
One day, Menana came across an old warrior of the Ottawa nation who took her in and treated her as his own daughter. As she spent time with him, her scales begin to fall from her arms and her tail transformed into legs once again. Despite her new earthly appearance, her nature was as wild as ever; she loved to escape the camp to go and swim in the raging waters and dance and sing in the rain. The Ottawa people were enchanted by her.
The Ottawas quarrelled with a rival group, the Adirondacks, and one day some of them came to the Ottawan village. Piskaret, a young Adirondack and son of the chief, gazed upon Menana and fell deeply in love. As Menana looked into his eyes, she smiled as she realised she had finally acquired the true love of a human soul. They strove to wed but it was not to be. The Adirondacks refused the union because Menana was one of the Spirits of the Flood, who, in the past had drowned their people and destroyed their crops. They drove Menana away from her love, and forecfully carried Piskaret away from Ottawa. Menana was distraught, and spent her days grieving her lost chance at love. The Great Spirit took pity on her, and allowed her to go back to join the Spirits of the Flood.
Not long after, the Adirondacks, including Piskaret, were canoeing along the river when the Spirits of the Flood appeared, as apparitions of fierce warriors. They attacked the group. Menana rushed to Piskaret and shielded him from harm, drawing him from his canoe and sinking with him beneath the waters. The souls of the Adirondacks were trasnformed into eagles by the Spirits of the Flood. Due to the acute hearing of an eagle, the sound of the rushing water of the waterfall almost drove all of the Adirondacks mad. Piskaret, however, was spared this fate and was turned into a Spirit of the Flood alongisde Menana, so they could finally live together underneath the wild rushing waterfall.
Hawaii: Hina and Mokuna
The forest doves are quiet now;
Far down the hill, a dog barks in the darkness,
And the long dark forms of mountain-pigs
Pass through the tall Ti plants in the stillness.
She sings to me a siren's song
Far older than these wooded hills.
I step outside the isolation of my tent;
Enveloped in her translucent arms,
My senses are unbound.
The sun is harsh and hot, O Hina,
But you are peace.
In this Hawaiian tale, Hina was a beautiful mo'o, a water spirit and goddess of the moon, and lived in the Rainbow Falls of the Wailuku River on the Big Island. She spent her days making kapa, a fabric produced from the bark of Hawaiian trees, and enchanting the surrounding waters with her heavenly singing.
But Hina had a rival, an evil mo'o called Mokuna who was very envious of her kind nature and beauty. One day, Mokuna decided to kill Hina. He hurled a gigantic rock into the river, causing the water levels to rise and almost completely destroy Hina's home. Hina called on Maui, her son, to search for the intruder but the evil Mokuna managed to seek cover in a waterhole before Maui reached him. Unsettled and worried for his mother, Maui sought out the assistance of Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes. Descending from the volcano, Pele carried blazing lava into the water of the river, boiling it up and killing Mokuna. To this day, those who visit Rainbow Falls can see the hardened lava rock that covers Mokuna's body.
This story reflects the volcanic nature of the Hawaiian terrain around the Rainbow Falls. Sometimes, during storms, the water can appear to boil up due to increased volcanic activity. To this day, Hina is worshipped as a symbol of the moon, communication and meditation. She is a strong feminine archetype who represents a multitude of entities, and acts as a motherly presence to all.
Mermaids: Custodians of the Ocean
Whilst humans dream of venturing into the depths of the deep blue ocean, mermaids crave the exact opposite - to bask under the glorious sun and explore the land above them. Mermaids' tales are filled with romance, magic, tragedy and heroism. Mermaids should inspire us to protect the ocean, which is increasingly under threat. Whilst mermaids' homes are already suffering from the ghastly affects of human pollution and climate change, our homes will start to see the impacts of our exploitative actions soon too. For this selfish reason, we must take action to protect the seas. There are many ways in which mermaids are working towards ocean conservation. Have a listen to the Save the Mermaids podcast that discusses ways in which we can protect our planet and intertwines this topic with myths and legends about the ocean. Or have a look at MERMAID, a scientific project that brings together communities and scientists to collect data on marine ecology. The oceans are filled with life, magic, and stories, something we must not take for granted.
References
Mermaids: The Myths, Legends & Lore by Skye Alexander
Mermaids: Not a Real Thing by Stuff You Should Know
コメント